The Calm After the Storm (After Breaking Dawn - Carlisle and Esme)
by LovinDrCullen
Summary: When the guests filter out after Breaking Dawn. Carlisle and Esme enjoy a night alone to decompress.
1. Carlisle and Esme

So the day had come and gone - the day they had all prepared for and held the worst type of angst for. Aro and his coven, The Volturi, threatened to end their existence, but by some miracle he pardoned whatever he initially thought to be a threat or wrongdoing.

Esme had not taken a moment to process the monumental nature of the aftermath of events. She and Carlisle had been so busy with all of their friends that there was virtually no time to stop and feel the emotions that were circulating.

She leaned her elbows against the railing of a small balcony on the third floor that overlooked the yard. There was silence - nothing. After the chaos it almost seemed unreal, as if nothing had ever happened in the first place.

Esme let out of a sigh to decompress and played the events in her mind from their meeting with The Volturi coven. She attempted not to let her thoughts run wild but all sorts of scenarios entered and exited her mind in rapid fashion. People could have died - those closest to her; the ones she loved most in the world. If just one of them had not made it out their entire world would not have been the same. Esme closed her eyes and let the cool breeze ease her mind a bit.

We are all still here and Aro has gone, Esme reminded herself. Nothing bad happened.

She joined her hands and leaned slightly over the railing again after overhearing a conversation between Edward and Bella about retreating back to their cottage with Renesmee.

Poor Renesmee, Esme thought. She must be terrified still.

Again, she had to remind herself that her granddaughter was okay. Her laughter from downstairs made Esme smile to herself. A child's laughter was like medicine to the soul. She was glad to know that Renesmee was in good spirits - at least right then.

A click from behind made Esme turn. She heard Carlisle enter their room but didn't see him in the dim lighting until he joined her on the balcony. She gave him an exhausted but genuine smile.

"Renesmee seemed to be fine," were his first words.

"I just heard her laughing." Esme smiled again and sighed and then turned toward the yard, placing her hands on the railing. At the same time Carlisle slid behind her and put one arm around her, the other over one of her hands.

"How are you holding up?" he asked, "You've done such a fine job of playing host with me to our friends that we haven't had the time to sit and talk."

"I'm relieved," Esme told him. "I'm relieved no one was hurt - or worse."

"You know in all of my years I was the most afraid I'd ever been leading up to that day." He cleared his throat.

"Well you did a great job for everyone in not showing it." Esme pulled him tighter against her and closed her eyes when she felt him kiss her cheek and then continue on until he got to her ear.

"I love you," he whispered.

Esme needed to hear those words. They - at least for a moment - made all of her other thoughts and feelings go away. "I love you, too."

They stood for a moment entwined with one another and stared out toward the woods. Edward, Bella and Renesmee emerged a moment later and headed to the trail that led out to their home away from home.

"Bye!" Renesmee's voice screeched through the night and she smiled and waved up at Carlisle and Esme.

"Goodnight sweetheart!" Esme called back with smile, breaking away from Carlisle for a second to wave.

Edward and Bella turned to look over their shoulders as the strolled hand in hand. They waved with matching grins and then guided their daughter toward their house.

Somewhere in the distance came a howl and Carlisle smirked as he heard Edward make a comment about Jacob. Bella nudged him with her elbow and as quickly as they had come outside they were gone.

Esme turned to Carlisle. "Things are okay..." She said the words as if she wanted confirmation.

"Things are okay," he confirmed with a nod.

Esme stared at him and then placed a hand on his face, tracing under his eye. Carlisle's eyes closed and he took in a small breath through his nose.

"You have tired eyes," Esme told him. She proceeded to leave a kiss on his cheek and then one on his lips.

Carlisle's eyes reopened and they shared another kiss. Esme pulled him gently by the hand and pulled the curtain across the open doors that led from the balcony to their bedroom.

"You want to leave the balcony doors open?" He asked, laying down in the center of the bed.

"The breeze is nice," Esme said with a shrug. Her husband looked as tired as she felt, and she quickly joined him on the bed. "Don't you wish we could just sleep for the next eight or nine hours?"

Carlisle draped an arm around her and kept his eyes closed as she snuggled up beside him. "I would love nothing more."

"It would be nice to give our minds a rest," Esme told him, "If nothing more."

He nodded and felt Esme adjust so she was half on his chest looking up at him with her hands beneath her chin.

Carlisle opened his eyes. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing." Esme didn't break eye contact and Carlisle motioned for her to come toward him a little more. She positioned her face above his and then leaned her lips down so they touched his. Carlisle kissed her back softly, letting his tongue slide against hers.

Esme took a deep breath in a brief break of their kisses and then kissed him back with a little more force.

Carlisle slid one hand up the back of Esme's shirt and squeezed her hip with his other hand. She leaned back and swiftly removed the shirt so she could feel Carlisle's skin against hers. Esme then began to toy with the buttons on his shirt.

Carlisle closed his eyes and focused on Esme's fingers as they touched his bare chest as each new button was undone. He could see she was waiting for him to remove it the rest of the way when she finished and he managed to get his arms out of the long sleeves.

Esme saw the little jump of Carlisle's Adam's apple as he swallowed hard. He kept his hands against the bare skin of her back as she began to trail kisses down his chest. She paid extra attention to his lower stomach and then retraced the path of her lips up to his neck.

Carlisle's eyes were closed and he hummed her name once before the two of them began to kiss again - this time with a harder sense of urgency.

Esme felt Carlisle begin to slide off the khaki pants he was wearing and so she got up to allow him to do so.

Carlisle didn't think about what he was doing and immediately put his hands back on his wife as he stood up and let his pants fall down around his ankles.

Esme arched her neck backwards as Carlisle wrapped his arms around her from behind and began kissing her neck and bare shoulders.

She wanted to moan but tried to keep it in with a series of sighs and rapid breaths. His hands traveled down her stomach as he still held her from behind and he unbuttoned the jeans she still had on before helping her remove them.

Esme turned to him as she stepped out of the last of clothing and didn't have time to think before Carlisle crushed her mouth with his own.

She didn't hold back - she couldn't. Esme moaned into his mouth while he explored the rest of her body with his hands.

"You are so..." Carlisle spoke in a heavy whisper against her lips and then kissed her again before finishing the sentence, "...amazing."

Esme let her eyes flicker open when he paused for a moment and then pushed the first two layers of sheets and blankets aside before pulling him into the bed with her. She didn't stop kissing him as he brought their intimacy to the next level with a moan of his own.

Carlisle felt his hand become entangled in the waves of Esme hair and breathed heavily against her ear.

Esme held him against her and closed her eyes tightly in the midst of the pleasure. It was rare that Carlisle let himself completely go in the moment. He was careful to protect their privacy in a house full of family members with supernatural senses. His moans against Esme that night were anything but discreet, and it made her pull him closer.

Carlisle lifted his head but never stopped. Esme pulled his face to hers and kissed him with all of the passion that radiated out of both of them. She took his lead and stopped wondering if someone might hear her.

The first word poured out of her mouth for several seconds, "Ohh Carlisle."

He kissed her again, sighing and breathing in their escalated, passionate embrace.

Esme linked her fingers through his hair as she held the back of his head with one hand. His lips trailed along her neck and he gently used his teeth to graze the mark he had left on her neck decades and decades before.

She tugged on his hair as he met the particularly sensitive area and tightened her legs around his waist. There was no way she could bring him any closer to her.

The intensity progresses with each passing second and Esme felt every pleasure sensor in her body come to life at the same time. Her fingers dug into his back and shoulders. The muscles in her arms and legs tightened and she barely got Carlisle's name out of her mouth as he kissed her again amidst their simultaneous climatic moment.

He muffled a moan into her mouth as his tongue aggressively explored hers.

Esme could feel his body tense and he released his lips from her to let out a final lament of pleasure. She sighed, slowly letting his legs down to rest flat on the bed while keeping her arms securely around him.

Carlisle's upper body rose and fell with a final few breaths. He relaxed and took a few seconds before lifting his head so he was looking down at Esme without attempting to separate himself from her.

He gently leaned down and touched his lips to hers. Esme let her hand drift to the side of his face and they shared the final moments of intimacy the same way things began - with a series of sensual kisses.

"I didn't respond to you before," Esme spoke quietly, still keeping her hand on his face.

"Respond to what?" He asked capturing her lips once more with his own.

Esme almost didn't answer. She wanted to just keep kissing him, but she eventually pulled back. "You're an amazing man. I love you."

"I love you."

Esme looked him in the eye. "I don't want to lose you."

"You're not going to."

She pushed back his hair and then lifted her head so se could touch his lips another time. "Can we spend the rest of the night like this?" Esme asked him.

Carlisle's closed mouth grin made her smile back. He ran a hand through her hard, down her face and then kissed her again. "We have nowhere to be."

Esme closed her eyes and embraced the moment they shared together. She knew she had to cherish every moment, every touch, every kiss. After the run-in with the Volturi coven all feelings of security had vanished.

"I'm not going anywhere," Carlisle whispered in her ear as if reading her mind.

Esme held him tighter and whispered back, "I know."


	2. Monitoring the Situation

\- The following afternoon -

Alice rounded into Carlisle's study with a knock on the frame of the open door. She grinned when he looked up from the lap top in the center of his desk.

"Edward said you wanted to talk to me." She whipped around the room, grabbed a decorative chair in the corner by a window and sat in front of him with her hands folded on top of the desk.

"I suppose we can begin the interview now," Carlisle joked, smirking as he closed the top of the computer.

Alice laughed. "This is about the Volturi isn't it?"

He stared back at her and then nodded slowly. "I don't mean to keep pulling you aside for confirmation every five minutes."

"I have focused heavily on Aro," she explained, "Thank God I'm out of high school and don't have finals to study for." Alice smirked and then went on. "He has had a number of talks with Caius and Marcus. He wanted to check in and see Renesmee's progress at some point."

"Do you know when?"

She shook her head. "No - no date has been set. It's just discussion now. Luckily Aro could see in Edward's and Renesmee's thoughts that she was not a danger in terms of feeding on the entire town of Forks." Alice laughed, but Carlisle couldn't manage a smile. He sighed. "Don't worry, Carlisle. Aro doesn't believe he'll gain anything from coming here too soon. Renesmee isn't all that different from when they were here recently."

Carlisle nodded and wished the entire ordeal had never happened. If Aro knew nothing of Renesmee until she was full grown then he would have no reason to check in or investigate. It would have been quite possible that he would have never found out to begin with. After all, prior to the last few years Carlisle hadn't seen Aro in centuries.

"I know it's a worry - to have them thinking of coming here again one day," Alice acknowledged, "But they won't be coming back with all of their main players or the entire coven. It doesn't sound malicious - just curious. And it won't be any time soon."

He sighed. "It would have been ideal to have him never come here at all. I would have been perfectly content with Aro and even moreso Caius never meeting any of you."

"Well, I did have my Italy encounter don't forget." Alice was as carefree as ever speaking of the Volturi. "But, you're right." She sighed and looked down almost solemnly for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Carlisle asked. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring this up."

"No, it's quite alright," Alice assured him, "More than alright." She saw that he was waiting for her to continue. "I just..." She paused and thought for a moment, "People have been wondering about my vision - the one that made Aro leave. I haven't spoken to anybody about it, but Edward knows."

He waited, having been curious about what she had seen, though he never asked. A part of him was afraid to and the other part of him knew that if Alice wanted to open up about it that she would. All he knew for certain was that she explained that lives would be lost on both sides.

Alice looked around and then reached for a small notebook that sat in the corner of the desk. She wasn't about to tell Carlisle about his close encounter with death - she couldn't bring herself to do it. The image of him defending her and losing his life over it was something that continued to haunt her. Another image that haunted her was Jasper - the love of her life - dying on the field that day. Alice knew how close they had been to all of that tragedy becoming a reality and harboring it alone was a lot to take in. She and Edward alike suffered in silence. She was sure Jasper was wondering why she hovered around him so much and had been acting so protective.

Carlisle handed Alice a pen, seeing that her eyes were scanning the desk and the bookshelves that surrounded them. "Here."

Alice swiped it from his hand and took a deep breath before jotting down Jasper's name on the first page in the notebook. It took Carlisle a moment to register what she meant, but then lifted his eyes to meet hers. "You mean...?" Carlisle took Alice's nod as confirmation and she proceeded to say, "I haven't told him - or anybody."

Carlisle's heart sank and he felt for Alice knowing she had to relive that every day. "I'm sorry Alice."

"It didn't happen." She regained her smile and crumpled up the piece of paper before tossing it into the small trash bin to the right of the desk.

"Was there anybody else?" He couldn't keep himself from asking seeing as though she opened the door.

Downstairs he heard his wife's laughter as she played with Renesmee. Edward's elated voice accompanied their interaction and Bella giggled. Carlisle couldn't fathom the thought of losing any of them.

Alice nodded. "Not Esme." She shook her head as she spoke. "Just so you know."

Carlisle let a subtle breath in and out and then nodded. Alice stared at him for an extra second and almost immediately she saw the wheels turning in his mind.

"What?" he asked, suddenly self-conscious.

She hadn't been nearly as clingy with Carlisle as she had with Jasper, but there were times she wanted to just hug him and tell him how much he meant to her - and to the rest of the family. Alice knew if she felt that way that Esme may very well never let him leave her sight. For that, she hoped Edward wouldn't come forward and tell Esme what he had seen of Alice's vision.

"Nothing." Alice smiled again and then rounded the desk, motioning for him to stand up. Carlisle obliged and then raised his eyebrows as she hugged him. He hugged her back and laughed as he grip tightened around him. Alice then left a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks Carlisle."

He smiled shyly, "For what?"

"For being a good person. For accepting Jasper and I into the family. For everything."

He shrugged, "You're welcome. Thank you for keeping this family safe. Your gift has certainly spared us tragedy."

Alice nodded. "We all work pretty well together." She winked and hurried out of the room, leaving Carlisle standing with a smile on his face but rather confused at the same time. With that, he sat back down and continued the research he had been doing on the computer.

"He's all yours," Alice's voice came from the hallway and Esme entered with a wave.

Carlisle immediately stopped what he was doing and smiled as she approached him.

"I have a date with you tonight, don't forget," she told him with a smile.

He glanced down at his watched and then removed it, "Eight o'clock - dinner."

Esme laughed and put her hands on the desk. "What's on the menu?"

"Deer... bear... whatever you would like."

She toyed with the watch he put down, noting that he always took it off for obvious reasons when they went to hunt. "What if we went off the beaten path this time?"

"Where would you like to go?" he asked.

Esme shrugged. "I don't have a particular place in mind. Maybe we could hunt north a little. Take some pictures."

Carlisle smiled and nodded. "Okay. I'll pack a bag." He began to stand up but she shook he head and motioned for him to sit.

"Finish what you're doing. It's only six. We have time."

"We could go early." He closed the computer and rounded the desk so he could give her a kiss.

Esme hugged him. "I'm going to make dinner for Renesmee." She looked up at him, "But then we'll go."

Carlisle knew Esme loved cooking for their granddaughter and doing all of the things that she would have done with her own children had the option been there. Renesmee certainly filled a void for his wife, and a bittersweet mixture of emotions filled him. "Okay."

Esme kissed him again. "Thank you."

Edward and Bella appeared at the door and the two of them parted for a moment.

"Sorry," Bella waved a hand. Edward smirked at her side and then addressed the two of them. "You guys can go early if you want."

"Yeah, Renesmee, she doesn't need-"

"I have to finish something," Carlisle interrupted them with a smile as he motioned to the computer. He knew Esme wanted to stay for the extra few hours to be with Renesmee and so he figured he could get her off the hook.

"You're sure?" Bella asked. "And sorry to eavesdrop." She felt guilty for her new-found senses.

Edward smiled at Esme, seeing in her thoughts quite clearly that she had no intention of leaving early on her mini expedition with Carlisle. She needed the balance between her family and the alone time with her husband that she suddenly had been craving more than before.

"We're sure," Esme said with a nod.

"Come on," Edward towed Bella by the hand and looked over his shoulder at the two of them before pulling her out of the room.

"I'll be right down," Esme called after them, and then turned to Carlisle again. She leaned up and kissed him. "Thank you."

Carlisle winked. "Eight o'clock." He smiled and sat back down. "Enjoy the time with Renesmee."


End file.
